The Rules
by BetterThanCoffee
Summary: There are many rules to being a monk. Pre-A:TLA


The eleven-year old monk shrieked in delight when his friend, Kuzon, managed to emit fire from his very breath. The last time the young monk visited the Fire Nation, his equally youthful friend could barely light a match, let alone breathe fire. Aang cheered on his fire-bending ally as Kuzon's breath arched into a beautiful, yet deadly curl in mimicry of the majestic dragons. The two boys had gone to spy on the dangerous beasts that very morning, only to get caught by their mentors before they could even leave the village.

"That was so cool, Kuzon!" Aang's eyes lit up, dancing wildly in wonderment at his friend's power.

"Hot, Aang," Kuzon replied with a nonchalant air, absorbing the praise. "Fire is never cool, my airbending friend."

"That was so hot," Aang corrected himself with a slight apologetic bow. The sun beamed down onto the airbender's fair skin, causing it to turn pink under the heat.

"So how goes the wind-blowing that you do?" Kuzon teased his friend lightly.

"You're looking at the kid who will soon be the next airbending Master," Aang replied cockily.

"You so sure about that?"

A wicked grin spread across Aang's face. "Just watch me. I'll be getting my arrows in no time."

"You know," Kuzon spoke conversationally, leading Aang down a path through the village, "I always thought you monks were supposed to be humble."

"There's a lot of aspects to being a monk, dear young pupil," Aang said with an overly pompous air, accepting the tongue that Kuzon stuck his way.

The two young boys continued their squabbles as they made their way through the village, thoroughly enjoying the day off from tutelage under their mentors. It was rare that either of them had any time off from their training, let alone when Aang is actually visiting in the Fire Nation. When the two of them hung out, all of the expectations laid upon them seemed to slip away. In the end, they were just boys, and together, they could just be.

Just as Kuzon was pulling Aang into a headlock to rub against his bald head, Aang caught sight of a young girl with raven hair. Her skin was even paler than Aang's, and her slanted, yellow eyes told of her Fire Nation ancestry. She was the most beautiful girl Aang had ever laid eyes on in his entire young life. The monk had explored the world over time again, and yet, in that very instance, he doubted he would ever meet any other girl who would ever equate to this one's beauty and grace.

"Woah, Earth to Aang," Kuzon pulled away, jostling Aang's shoulders. "What's gotten into you?"

"Who's that?" Aang inquired dreamily, a silly smile wiggling across his face.

"Who?" Kuzon looked in the direction that Aang was staring. "Wow, that is a pretty girl."

"Yeah."

Aang continued to stare at his supposed dream girl, while Kuzon's brow crinkled.

"Wait, Aang, you're a monk, right?"

"Yeah," Aang replied, still monosyllabic.

"Well, it is just that I thought monks weren't allowed to marry."

That seemed to snap Aang out of his stupor. "I guess."

"Are monks even allowed to date?" Kuzon thought allowed to himself.

Aang gulped. For his entire life, Aang had committed his entire being to being the perfect monk. Aang followed all of the rules, and made sure to always listen to Monk Gyatso and the rest of the elders. Everything that was 'Aang' was wrapped up in being a monk, and yet he had never stopped to think about what exactly that meant. He never stopped to think about what exactly he might be giving up.

It was a great honor to be a monk. The tradition of his people, the air nomads, went back centuries, and Aang was always very humbled to be a part of it. It was without question that Aang would follow the tradition he had been born into. He lived, eat, and breathed the life of the monk, and Aang hoped to soon have the ceremonial arrows tattooed across his form. There wasn't a doubt in the world that Aang was an Air Nomad monk.

Yet even when Aang finally traveled back to the Southern Air Temple, the image of that Fire Nation girl still appeared in his mind, and Aang wondered what possible relationships he could foster with his lifestyle. Aang had never questioned the validity of the life of a monk, but now he wondered how could one truly be at peace with the world if they never lived in the world? Never loved in the world? Never lost? It seemed almost unfair that Aang was destined to live a life on the outside as an observer.

Monk Gyatso watched his charge from afar. The elder noticed the changes in the young child, and knew that Aang was yearning for more, whether he knew it yet or not. The difference between Aang and Gyatso was that Gyatso had the knowledge of what fate was in store for the young monk. The airbender was destined for much greater things than what appeared before him at the Southern Air Temple. Of course, it was far too early for any of this knowledge to be passed along, but Monk Gyatso could not stand to do nothing while his ward was suffering.

After several days of musing, Gyatso finally felt confident enough to approach the younger monk.

"Sometimes it seems hard, expected to live within the trappings of monkhood."

"Yeah," Aang replied grumpily, seeming to only be listening with half an ear.

"You know, dear Aang, our destinies are our own to choose. The traditions that state what to do and not to do were written by people who lived different lives than you."

Aang perked up. "What are you saying, Gyatso?"

"I'm saying that every tradition had to have a beginning at some point, and therefore, were not always traditions."

"So what, the rules are made up?" Aang asked cheekily. Gyatso just laughed in reply, happy to see a smile on the young monk's face again.

Aang ran off, more confident in himself than ever. Aang would always be a monk, no doubt about it, but maybe he would have to start some of his own traditions – his own rules. Just because Aang didn't plan on staying 100% traditional every day of every year of his entire life, that did not make Aang any less of a monk. If Aang thought about it, wasn't it against tradition for Gyatso to raise Aang as his sole ward? As long as Aang remained true to himself, who could argue against the monk?

As Aang awoke from the iceberg, he saw a pair of piercing blue eyes gaze into his own. In that moment, Aang knew he would be throwing away all of the rules for the rest of his life.


End file.
